Translating the World

“Diversity” is a word that we’re hearing more and more lately, and that’s a good thing. “We need diverse books” is the slogan of a campaign that raises awareness on the lack of representation of minorities in literature. Especially relevant is that representation in children’s literature.

Steven Lenton proves that not all pink books are dumb and that not all fairy tales are the same. With Princess Daisy and the Dragon and the Nincompoop Knights we discover that intelligence and grit are far better values than strength and brutality.

The project continues and this time I’m travelling – so to speak – to the beautiful Slovenia with the wonderful book Antonov Cirkus (roughly translated as “Anthony Circus”) by Peter Svetina, a story of creativity, imagination and friendship.

As you all know, I have challenged myself to translate a children’s book from every country in the world. It’s a very ambitious (some people would call it “crazy”) project but I’m very excited about it and it’s working out perfectly… but I need some extra help. Finding a book from different countries is not an easy task.

When I started the Project Translating the World I had no idea how much I would enjoy it. I had (have!) big plans, tons of ideas and topics and I knew all that would bring me lots of fun. Until now, I have managed to translate five lovely books and although there are still 190 to go I feel very optimistic about it because the beginnings are always harder and lately I am feeling like doing the project is getting smoother and easier, since I have more experience and therefore I know what I want and how I want to do it.

Have you noticed that there aren’t many podcasts or video channels focused on children’s literature? That’s what these three brilliant women thought. And they decided to do something about it. Katherine Woodfine, Melissa Cox and Louise Lamont have created a radio show that is the delight of any children’s literature enthusiast, it’s called: Down the Rabbit Hole.

Daniel Napp delights us with the funny story of Dr. Brumm, a very friendly bear who struggles with human technology. In Dr. Brumm versteht das nicht our main character tries to figure out why his TV stopped working in the middle of the match, and he won’t stop until he gets a clear answer.

Yet another book added to my beautiful collection of books from every country in the world. The translation of this book has proved a challenging one – it’s written entirely in verse! The wonderful Réka Király delights us with this philosophical story that tries to answer one of the hardest questions of all: What does “tomorrow” mean? Pieni suuri tarina huomisesta is a poetical metaphor of time and conciousness.

Humour might be one of the most complicated – yet more fun to work with – challenges to deal with when translating a text. But what happens when we translate a joke from a different language into our language? Or even better, how can we translate the humour of another culture into our own culture? Those are no easy questions.

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The Translator

My name is Luisa Olmedo and I have a passion for children's books. I have challenged myself to translate a book from every country in the world. Learn more about the project Translating the World in this blog, on Twitter and Facebook.